The Donnellys - 140th Anniversary
Canadian True Crime
Kristi Lee
4.7 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 1 February 2020
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An Irish immigrant family arrived in Lucan, Ontario in the 1840s, and almost immediately clashed with members of the local community. A fiery dispute erupted that would last for decades and escalate into madness, leaving a pile of bodies in its wake.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Okay, quick introduction because I'm pretty sure I have some new listeners to the podcast. |
| 0:05.8 | Are you one of them? Hi and welcome to Canadian True Crime. I'm the host, Christy, and I'm an Australian |
| 0:12.6 | who's lived in the Greater Toronto area for the past 10 years. I started this podcast out of my |
| 0:19.0 | closet three years ago and it kind of took off. |
| 0:22.4 | To this day though, it remains an independent podcast that is still produced and hosted by me, |
| 0:28.2 | except now I do it out of my basement. |
| 0:30.9 | That is an upgrade. |
| 0:33.1 | And now to today's episode, which is about one of Canada's most well-known historic cases. |
| 0:40.0 | Yes, those Donnellys. |
| 0:42.3 | The gripping and brutal story of a bitter family feud that tore apart a town and has long |
| 0:48.7 | been the subject of rumour and legend. |
| 0:51.6 | What really happened? |
| 0:53.7 | You are about to find out thanks to Toronto true |
| 0:57.0 | crime author Nate Henley, who researched this case from the public record and wrote this episode. |
| 1:05.1 | This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. |
| 1:12.3 | Listener discretion is advised. |
| 1:17.9 | The Donnelly story begins in Tipperary Island. |
| 1:22.4 | James and Johanna Donnelly met and married in the 1840s, and they quickly produced two sons, James |
| 1:29.9 | Jr. and William. The 1840s were an awful time for Ireland. The country was thrown into |
| 1:37.6 | devastation by the potato famine, which resulted from Ireland's main crop failing. |
| 1:50.7 | Millions of people had to make the choice to either stay and starve or immigrate somewhere else. |
| 1:57.2 | In 1844, James and Johanna Donnelly joined the Exodus leaving their homeland. |
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